Ali Cat & Co.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Swoon Dorothy Sewalong Day 2: Prep Work

Day 2 ladies!

We will work on all the prep stuff which includes the handles, exterior zipper, making the pockets and basting the piping.

Do NOT be scared of the piping. I'm not sure why it seems intimidating.
It is the easiest way to add serious pizazz to your work.

Grab your interfaced handles. Ignore that my interfacing is short. sigh. It's not worth explaining.

Swoon Dorothy Sewalong Day 1: Print, Cut, Stabilize

Welcome to the Swoon Dorothy Sewalong! I am so glad you are here!

Let's get started.

You can find the pattern here (affiliate link): Dorothy Day Tripper

Materials:

1 yard exterior fabric, quilting or home decor weight
1.5 yard interior fabric, quilting weight
2 packages of pre-made piping
3 yards Pellon Craft-fuse 808 or mid-weight fusible interfacing of choice
1 yard fusible fleece (Pellon Thermolam)
1/2 yd light-med interfacing (you can use Craft-fuse)
24″ all-purpose zipper (22" zipper will work as well)
2 9" zippers
Coordinating thread

We will be making a few changes to the pattern. I am changing the handle style (it will still be shoulder bag length) so that we can install a zipper pocket on the exterior.

If you do not want to make those changes, then you will only need 1 9" zipper for the interior pocket.

Cut out all your fabric and stabilizer according to the pattern pieces but

DO NOT CUT THE HANDLES!

E-beth Designs: Lorelei Dress

I just keep getting lucky!

I was selected to test the beautiful E-beth Designs Lorelei Dress.

This sweet circle yoke dress also has a tulle petticoat, fitted bodice with easy to install zipper instructions. It took me about 5 hours to complete. That sounds like a long time. The petticoat adds a little bit of extra time but well worth it!

Just look at her face. You can tell she loves it.

Anytime she sees it in her closet; she asks to wear her Lorelei.

Bad Gone Good: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have very few rules in life. Two rules, actually.

1. Ask forgiveness, not permission.

2. Eat big cookies.

The first rule is common sense.

I don't play around with cookie eating. It's serious business.

If I'm going blow calories on a cookie; I want it to be a damn good cookie.

Which brings me to my second rule in life. Part of identifying a cookie as "damn good" includes the size. Anything smaller than 2.5" diameter is chump work. Small cookies are for children or those with sand in their panties.

A while back, I stumbled upon this recipe: Flourless chocolate chip cookie.

Sounded pretty good to me, so I tried it out. I was very impressed. I, however, was NOT impressed with the quantity of cookies. The recipe as is makes about 6 cookies.

REALLY? Are you trying to piss me off? Because you did a good job.

I've taken the liberty of QUADRUPLING the recipe for you. You're welcome!

My Little Plumcake High Waisted Skirt

POCKETS! We like pockets.

And the My Little Plumcake Chloe is a high waisted pleated skirt with pockets!

This is my favorite skirt pattern. J'adore the pleats!

If you've never done pleats, don't be scared. The instructions provide easy to follow

directions for making perfect pleats.

The skirt sits high on the waist and has optional shoulder straps.

The waist band has a side clasp; I used an adjustable one for the skirt to grow with her.

The skirt is fully lined, providing a nice 'poof' for twirling.

The 50 Shades of Lola

The ladies of That's What She Crafted invited me to be apart of a Who Wore It Better: Victory Lola.
This blog post is also on their website, but I find it funny enough to have on my blog as well.

What's up? I'm Brianne from Ali Cat & Co. All of the ladies at TWSC are dear, dear friends of mine.

They must feel the same way, because at 2:30pm yesterday, they asked me to do a guest post today on my Victory Lola. They said they were in a pinch and needed some help.

I totally called BS on them. I think the real reason is because no one wanted to post the day after Crystal's hilarious Lola blog.

But I'm not one to back down.

Introducing The 50 Shades of Lola.

Lola is a Douche Bag

Ass, grass, or cash. No free rides.